Petrarch

by Francesco Petrarca

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Petrarch Questions and Answers

What does Petrarch's Sonnet 90 say about true love, and what poetic techniques does he use? Petrarch: Sonnet 90 Upon the breeze she spread her golden hairthat in a thousand gentle knots was turnedand the sweet light beyond all radiance burnedin eyes where now that radiance is rare;and in her face there seemed to come an airof pity, true or false, that I discerned:I had love's tinder in my breast unburned,was it a wonder if it kindled there?She moved not like a mortal, but as thoughshe bore an angel's form, her words had thena sound that simple human voices lack;a heavenly spirit, a living sunwas what I saw; now, if it is not so,the wound's not healed because the bow goes.

What is the the tone of Petrarch's Sonnet 90: "She used to let her golden hair fly free"?

In "Sonnet 90," how does Petrarch use the sestet to develop a more complicated view of love?  

Analyze the meaning and literary devices in Petrarch's sonnet beginning with "The gentle breeze." 

What is the dramatic situation in Petrarch's Sonnet 333 (copied below)? What has happened to Laura and the poet? Petrarch's Sonnet 333 (translated by Morris Bishop)   Go, grieving rimes of mine, to that hard stone Whereunder lies my darling, lies my dear, And cry to her to speak from heaven's sphere. Her mortal part with grass is overgrown.   Tell her, I'm sick of living; that I'm blown By winds of grief from the course I ought to steer, That praise of her is all my purpose here And all my business; that of her alone   Do I go telling, that how she lived and died And lives again in immortality, All men may know, and love my Laura's grace.   Oh, may she deign to stand at my bedside When I come to die; and may she call to me And draw me to her in the blessèd place!

What does Petrarch's "Sonnet 131" ("I'd sing of Love in such a novel fashion") mean?

In what sense is Petrarch insincere in Sonnet 18 (sonnet inside)?  a. Through professing his desire to be alone, he really craves the attention of other people. b. While asserting he wants to keep his love a secret, he nevertheless tells many friends about it. c. While failing to describe his lover's beauty, he still manages to flatter her. d. Despite denying the power of his own poetry, he actually praises himself in the last lines. 

What is the form of Petrarch's Sonnet 90? (explain the sestet and octet)

Why is Petrarch’s letter “The Ascent of Mount Ventoux” recognized as capturing the spirit of the Renaissance, and why is Petrarch called the Father of Renaissance Humanism?

Can you explain both stanzas in Petrarch's "Sonnet II"?

What is a summary of “It Was On That Day When the Sun’s Ray Was Darkened." What poetic devices are used?

In "Sonnet 131" (I'd sing of Love in such a novel fashion) by Petrarch, what is the intent of the author/speaker? What message is supposed to be conveyed? Is the message stated directly or indirectly? Please include quotes.

How can I analyze Petrarch's "Sonnet 90"?

What is sonnet 292 about? What type of poem is it? What tone/mood? what type of poem is it? what tone/mood?

What images, symbols, and metaphors are found in Petrarch's poems?

What gender roles are reflected in the sonnets of Petrarch?

Are the lines in this sonnet by Petrarch, are an example of an octave, sestet, quatrain or couplet? Sonnet follows with more explanation. Sonnet referred to: You who hear the sound, in scattered rhymes, of those sighs on which I fed my heart, in my first vagrant youthfulness, when I was partly other than I am, I hope to find pity, and forgiveness, for all the modes in which I talk and weep, between vain hope and vain sadness, in those who understand love through its trials. Yet I see clearly now I have become an old tale amongst all these people, so that it often makes me ashamed of myself; and shame is the fruit of my vanities, and remorse, and the clearest knowledge of how the world's delight is a brief dream.   Doesn't appear to have a rhyming scheme. Thought at first that the first 8 lines were an octave and the second six were a sestet, but it may also be made up of two quatrains and three couplets. I believe it is a Petrarch Sonnet.

In Petrarch's Sonnet 131, what do "scarlet roses" represent?

In Petrarch's Sonnet 333, how do we understand the speaker's relationship to Laura?

How do the lines below fit into the rhyme scheme of Petrarch's sonnet? The lines below are an example of an octave, sestet, quatrain or couplet   Lines referred to: Yet I see clearly now I have become an old tale amongst all these people, so that it often makes me ashamed of myself; and shame is the fruit of my vanities, and remorse, and the clearest knowledge of how the world's delight is a brief dream.

Explain the difference between Anthropo-centrism and Theo-centrism?

Compare and contrast "I’d Sing of Love in Such a Novel Fashion” and “ Alone, and Lost in Thought, the Desert Glade” by Francesco Petrarch. How would you write a comparitive essay using these two sonnets?

What is the Petrarchan mode in literature? Literature

In what ways are Petrarchan sonnets typically Renaissance?

What is the relationship between La Celestina & Petrarch, whose work is quoted continously throughout Rojas's work?

Explain the use of imagery in Petrarch's "Sonnet II."

What are Petrarchan sonnets and how are they divided structurally?

How might one describe the so-called "Petrarchan poets" who wrote in English in the sixteenth century?

What caused the change in the medieval world leading up to the Renaissance as explained in the work of Petrarch? Explain.

How are the sonnets of Petrarch and Shakespeare alike and different?

What type of poem is Petrarch's Sonnet 292? Is it methaphysical, pastoral or cavalier? I also need Petrarch's Sonnets 130 and 116.

Illuminate and extract the rhyme scheme in Petrarch's Sonnet II.

How has Petrarch himself or his writings have been significant throughout history?

In what ways were the Italian poetry and the humanist philosophy significant in history?